Defiance

We don’t know if their defiance is admirable or just plain wrong, but the settlers at the Mandaue City side of Mahiga Creek are inviting trouble with their insistence to stay there despite claims that they weren’t encroaching on the three-meter easement zone in the area.

Their so-called “Tent City” are being fenced by the Mandaue City government to set boundaries and prevent them from exceeding such boundaries. This presents a dilemma to city officials who are trying to clear their side as part of efforts to reduce flooding in both the cities of Mandaue and Cebu.

Even if they were fenced in, the continued presence of these settlers in Mahiga Creek represents a silent confirmation and even acceptance (resignation?) on Mandaue City Hall’s part, lending legitimacy to their claim into the land which is supposed to be free from any habitation whatsoever.

The settlers are also planning to ask Vice President Jejomar Binay to help them with their case. Good luck to them because Binay, despite helping resolve the province’s problems with occupants of lots covered by Provincial Ordinance 93-1, has to deal with his own troubles at the Senate.

These settlers also happen to live in the wrong side of the Mahiga Creek; if they were in the Cebu City side of the creek, they may have better luck asking Binay considering that the Vice President and Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama are best buddies (politically for now).

We hope the problem with the settlers of sitio Mahayag who set up this “Tent City” doesn’t reach the point when they build their own businesses like stores which would signal their intention of staying there permanently.

Even if they were fenced in, what’s to stop them from dumping their garbage someplace conveniently near?

While insisting on their right to stay in Mahiga Creek, have they made any promises not to pollute the area?

While the problem of pollution doesn’t revolve around these settlers—the Cebu City slaughterhouse is also a major contributor despite the continued claims to the contrary by Cebu City officials—the presence of the settlers may encourage others who have accepted the offer to relocate or accepted the assistance offered by the Mandaue City government to move back in.

At least Mandaue City had a relocation site to offer settlers while Cebu City Hall isn’t faring any better.

So far the other settlers are complying with the Mandaue City government’s order to move out but the sitio Mahayag case bears watching if only for Mandaue City’s campaign to make good on its promise to clean Mahiga Creek.

Any presence of habitation or industry that could pollute the creek should be removed to solve part of Metro Cebu’s flooding problem. We shouldn’t wait for the rains to come to solve this problem.